Transformers: Deep Space Exploration Team
by TcogArchitect
Summary: Dark Lance and his team of Autobot explorers are attacked while surveying a new planet, and are forced to contend with both the threat of Decepticons and stasis lock. But they will find that not all planets are what they seem, and some have secrets hidden that are as old as the stars themselves.
1. Chapter 1: Crashing, Bad

Chapter one: Crashing, Bad

The ship hovered in the glow of a moon, in the orbit of the latest world it had come across. It had been to many worlds, some inhabited, some very dangerous. Inside, a being made of metal stood at a control panel, unmoving, waiting for the scanners to finish. His body was painted bright yellow with green stripes and he had large, forward-pointing, horizontal tubes for shoulders while wings were attached to his arms. His head was covered with small, scale-like metal plates, which alternated between green and yellow to create a checkerboard pattern. The screen suddenly beeped, and a new image of the planet below appeared. The screen traced numerous lines across the surface of the image, creating dividers between land and ocean, and highlighting various natural formations. The metallic being that had been staring at the screen touched a button, and the image of the planet shifted to one side as categories and numbers appeared on the other.

Skybreaker had been on the Star Runner for about half as long as the ship had been in service, but the readouts he was currently looking at were unlike anything he had seen before. There was intelligent life on this planet, but very few artificial structures in comparison to most planets with sentient beings on them. Also, there were several different types of intelligent life, making this planet even more unusual. It was a relatively small planet, with low gravity and a thin, dense atmosphere. But that is not what had captured the relatively young robot's attention. It was the fact that the planet was practically covered in Energon that had really surprised him. In all his travels, he had never even heard of a planet with that much raw Energon.

But now, here one was, just below his feet.

He quickly moved across the ship, towards the bridge. Rather than take the elevator, he turned towards the stairs, jumping into a luge position as he transformed. His feet extended past his legs, allowing them to turn away from each other and connect into a long, pointed fuselage as his entire upper body tilted forward and his arms folded up into his shoulders, allowing the engines that made them up to ignite as his thruster pack realigned itself to add more propulsion. He rocketed up the staircase, returning to his robot mode in midair to come screeching to a halt outside the door to the bridge. It split down the middle and opened to either side, and his three comrades looked at him expectantly.

"Well?" said Dark Lance, the commander. He was slightly larger than Skybreaker, and was colored a dark blue with black trim. A pair of flattened jet engines laid against his back, layered with directional flaps over and under them. Nestled between the two engines was a bladed shield and his signature lance, from which he derived his name, while a sickle hung from the armor plates attached to either side of his waist. His face was framed by a large fin on either side that swept upwards to a point, giving the illusion of ears, while on top of his head sat a battle mask, etched with two large fangs designed to intimidate foes. "What did we find?"

"We found the mother load." he replied, "The entire planet is practically covered in Energon."

"That's great!" replied Burnout from her seat at the environmental controls and status feed. She was a light brown, with white and dark brown trim and highlights. Her head was a light cream color with a brown crest that swept back past her head, and her left arm was almost completely covered by a large, out-of-place gauntlet that held her medical tools. "We can finally get enough to keep us going without worrying about how much is left."

"It won't be that easy." said Bunker, a bright white male who had a blue cloak hanging from each shoulder, allowing the large spike that was pointing straight up on his lower back to be easily seen from his place at the ship's helm. His face was mostly concealed underneath a white, slitted battle mask that pushed forward along the horizontal middle, giving the sense of a face without actually seeing it, though, the top half was pushed up slightly at the moment to reveal his optics. The mask pulled back as it got higher, coming to a decorative point about seven inches above his head. "Don't forget that long-term exposure to large amounts of raw Energon like this is also capable of putting us into stasis lock. We'll need beast modes in order to spend any substantial length of time down there."

"Also," Skybreaker said, "the planet has multiple sentient species. It will probably be more difficult to gather the Energon on this planet than it has been in the past."

Dark Lance sat silently in thought for several moments. He and his team had been sent out into the cosmos to discover and befriend new life forms, leaving one of the many protoforms in the ship's storage bays behind at each friendly planet as an ambassador, protector, and researcher. Since then, however, their mission had changed.

After the Decepticons had started the Great War which destroyed Cybertron, Dark Lance and his crew had not just been looking for new allies, but also new sources of Energon, and a new world to call home. The planet below had more than enough of one of these objectives, but the fact that there were sentient life forms already living there made the chances of this becoming their new home planet mathematically negligible. However, the Energon reserves on the ship were running out, and they couldn't afford not to at least land and try to make contact.

Before he could give his orders, though, a huge explosion rocked the entire ship.

Outside, another ship had appeared from behind the planet's moon, and had fired on the Star Runner before they were detected. The second ship's commander smiled.

"Direct hit. Fire again!" he ordered.

A second bolt of energy whizzed through the vacuum, hitting the now-tilted ship on its underside, causing a large panel to come loose and hang limply in space.

Inside, Skybreaker took his seat at the ship's gun controls, activating the auto-turrets, and powering up the primary cannon. Taking quick, precise aim, he began to return fire at the other ship, having anticipated his leader's orders.

"Damage report!" Dark Lance yelled over the thumping of the guns.

"The primary hangar bay has been breached, and we don't have power in the main starboard engine!" Burnout replied, watching her screen for any new alerts as the ship rocked violently again, and the lights flickered.

"Bunker, start a landing run, I'm going to see what I can do about the loose panels!" As Dark Lance got up to head to the hangar, Bunker started hitting buttons and switches, the years of simulations, practice, and experience allowing him to begin the landing procedure before the order was even completed.

Running toward the airlock, Dark Lance turned on his comm link.

"Burnout, what's the update?" he queried.

"Not good," the medic replied. " We don't have enough power to do a proper landing, and the hangar panels won't hold during reentry."

"Scrap." Dark Lance muttered, now at the airlock. Opening the outer door, he jumped away from the ship, his legs turning to face away from each other before his feet flipped up, the heel spurs in back becoming exhaust ports for the ion repulsor engines in his legs, which folded up to a more compact position. Simultaneously, his chest plate extended away from his body and rotated upwards, the sensory array located there coming to life as his robot head was concealed and rendered useless. His shoulder guards then folded down along his arms, covering them completely before they stuck straight out, his chest separating itself and turning downward so that his arms now pointed towards his feet, allowing the hydraulics of his jet mode's neck to move down and connect to his abdomen. His lance and shield flipped up onto his alt-mode head as his back thrusters splayed out to either side to form a pair of forward-swept wings. The last pieces to move were the panels that held his sickles, which moved to his back and connected with each other before flipping to his rear to become vertical directional panels. He then flew to the hangar's outside to get a better look at the broken panel. Burnout was right, there was no way he'd be able to fix the damage during the firefight sufficiently for it to stay attached during reentry. Changing back to his robot mode, he magnetized his feet to the hull, and quickly considered his options.

Attempting to use himself as a decoy would only ensure their destruction. A head-on attack would yield similar results. He couldn't fix the damage under current circumstances, and the ship wouldn't be able to outrun its attackers. That left one option.

Re-activating his comm, Dark Lance began issuing orders.

"Skybreaker, use a missile to take out their engines. Bunker, roll the ship so the hangar is facing away from the planet. Burnout, depressurize the hangar. I'm going to jettison the protoforms into orbit. Hopefully that will keep them out of Decepticon hands until we can fix the damage." Without response, his orders were carried out. He saw the missile streak away from the ship, pass the other, and turn around just as a cloud of gas came out of the hangar and the ship started to tilt further.

Within seconds, Dark Lance was at the hangar control pad, putting in directions that would be copied and used by the protective stasis pods to keep themselves in orbit. He then raced through the jettison procedure, checking each of the dozens of pods for any flaws or damage as the Star Runner was hit again and again by the enemy ship's cannons, shuddering from the impacts. Once he was satisfied with the state of the pods, he went to the inner most wall and turned to look at the broken door which had been jammed into place by blaster fire. Firing his rockets after propelling himself off the wall, he stuck both arms out in front of himself, curling his hands into fists and bracing for impact. He slammed into the door, causing it to burst out into space and disappear from sight. He then returned to the control panel, and pulled the ejection lever. All at once, the pods moved forward from the walls, lining up neatly before being sent careening out the hole where the door used to be by the slingshot mechanisms in the floor. Dark Lance watched them fly out, and then right themselves using compressed air as the onboard computers took control. When the last pod was safely away, he returned to his jet mode, and flew out to see what else had transpired while he had been dealing with the protoforms.

What he saw was carnage. The other ship was now helplessly listing towards the planet, its engines all but useless. His own ship was not doing much better. Large holes and scorch marks covered the surface of the once-pristine exploration vessel, and it, too was now caught powerlessly in the planet's gravitational pull. Both ships, however, refused to go down easily, and were still firing all of their weapons at each other. He hurried back to the airlock, and once inside, returned to his companions, calculating his next move.

When he got there, he could hardly recognize it. Panels had been knocked loose by the shockwaves, causing the wiring inside to float lifelessly down into the room. His allies were still at their places, Bunker trying desperately to get the ship back under control, Skybreaker concentrating on his targeting screen with a look of grim determination, and Burnout tapping furiously at her keyboard, trying to get the vessel's self-repair functions to work, while alerts constantly flashed onto her screen, blinking red to tell her of the new problem.

Dark Lance knew full well how this fight would end.

His mechanical eyes clicking back on, Dark Lance realized that he was still alive. Sore and disoriented, but alive. He was lying on his front on the floor of the ship, his head looking across the room at his own command chair. He moved his body to get up, but although everything was working properly, he couldn't move. He quickly realized that this was due to a large beam from the ceiling laying on top of him. Knowing now what was on his back, he put more power into his arms and legs and pushed off the ground, the beam sliding off his back to return to the floor. He looked around. Burnout was facedown on her console, her arms hanging limply at her sides. Skybreaker was on his back, the chair of his station having broken under the massive stress of the combat. Bunker was lying next to his seat, a large dent in the controls where Dark Lance assumed he had hit his head and blacked out on impact. There were a couple of small flames in parts of the bridge, telling him that he had not been offline for long.

He then felt a small buzzing sensation in his fingers. The first sign of high levels of Energon radiation. Ignoring the inconsequential fires, he moved to the large holographic display in the back of the room behind his command chair, clearing it of debris before pressing a button. The panel beeped cheerfully, and Dark Lance quickly started typing in commands, feverishly hoping that the computer's equipment was still intact enough to do what he needed. When he finished, there was a series of clanks and whirrs as the display split open to reveal a small, round object with an antenna on top, a pair of small, folded up wings, and a satellite dish on the bottom.

^Good, Teletraan six is still operational,^ Dark Lance thought, seeing that the probe was still in working condition. ^Now to start looking for some new forms.^ He quickly pressed a few buttons, and the probe launched into the air, its wings unfolding and catching it before it hit the ground. By this time, there were also small, silvery streams of what looked like liquid metal coming from several points in the console. Dark Lance payed them no mind, since he knew they were nanobots which would move through the ship, repairing what they found. Teletraan six then flew out through a hole which had opened in the ceiling, and Dark Lance turned back towards his unconscious crew. He quickly started to drag them, one by one, out from their places of rest, then picked them up and carried them into the next room, placing each into a different chamber which then closed around them. When he was done, he returned to the holographic display, hoping that Teletraan six would be back soon. He could now feel the Energon buildup in his circuits from the radiation, making him slower and more worried that he would go into stasis lock before Teletraan six returned, dooming them all.

His fears were quelled, however, as the hole in the ceiling opened once more to admit the probe back into its place within the holographic display, which then returned to its normal state and proceeded to show him images of various creatures from this world. He quickly scanned through them, and chose four which looked almost as if they had evolved specifically so his team could use their forms.

They were all small horse-like creatures, but they had differences between them that made it easy for him to pick which one would go to which member of his team. The first was plain, and looked almost identical to the horses on Earth. It wasn't quite the same as what he had seen in the records for that distant world, but it was impossible not to see similarities. He assigned it to Burnout, since she had the fewest accessories, and proceeded to the next, the name of which escaped him, but had the same body, except for the addition of a pair of wings which had a strange structure that appeared able to bend and shift in ways that most winged animals would find impossible. He gave it to Skybreaker, an obvious choice since he was the team's scout. The third creature, a unicorn, had a single, spiral-patterned horn jutting from its forehead instead of wings. He decided to give this form to Bunker, reasoning that the white Autobot's spear would be disguised well as the horn. The final form that Teletraan six had found he did not recognize, but it had both a horn and wings, making it perfect for Dark Lance to carry his weapon without having to sacrifice his ability to fly.

Once he was done, Dark Lance moved back to the second room, just as mechanical sounds began to emanate from the first pod, indicating that the process of modifying their bodies for their new beast modes had begun. He stepped into the last pod, which then closed, and waited for the machines to finish their work.


	2. Chapter 2: New Places, New Faces

Chapter two: New Places, New Faces

When he awoke from the induced stasis of the modifier pods, the first thing Dark Lance noticed was the hair. He had done this before, but the addition of organic structures to his body always made him feel like he had replaced another being's consciousness. The doors opened with a hiss, allowing him to step out and look at himself in the light. He was still dark blue, but was now on all fours, another sensation he was not unfamiliar with, but did not find entirely comfortable at first, either. He moved each piece of his body in rapid succession, ensuring that everything was still there and that he could move it all properly. His flight packs had unfolded and flattened out, refolding into a position which made them look just like natural wings, feathers and all. His sickles had been modified so that the blades could separate from themselves into a multitude of flexible, black fibers to make up his new tail, with the blades on his shield doing the same on his head to form a short, spiky mane directly behind his lance which, of course, now masqueraded as a horn on his forehead. His shoulder guards were now unfolded down his arms to become his front legs, with his original legs spinning backwards to achieve the long, powerful rear legs of the creature he was mimicking. His chest plate had extended out and up to form a new neck and head for his disguise.

He looked around after finishing his self-diagnostic to see his team finishing each of theirs. Standing in front of him now were three equine forms: a plain, somewhat feminine horse, with a light brown coat and a dark brown mane, which split in the middle to fall equally to her left and right, and a similarly colored tail; a creature that Dark Lance finally remembered from Earth mythology as a pegasus with a bright yellow coat and equally bright green messy mane and tail; and a pure white unicorn with a short, dark blue, slicked-back mane and dark blue, flowing tail. When they were finished, they went back into the bridge to clean up before continuing to the next order of business: the Decepticons.

"First of all," Dark Lance began, "we need to figure out how far away they landed from our ship."

Bunker carefully pressed a few buttons with his relatively clunky new appendages, and the holo-display then showed a curved line to indicate where the planet's surface was, as two small dots came into view, tracing two more lines down to the first. A number came up, indicating the distance between the two impact sites. It was not far.

Dark Lance considered the lines for a moment, then issued a command. "Aerial map of space between the crash points," he told the computer. The lines disappeared, and a large map of the area between the Autobot and Decepticon ships appeared in its place. To the northwest, there was a small town. A forest extended between the two crash sites, with the Decepticon ship itself smashed into the west side of a mountain, piercing it, while their own had slammed into the ground in the south side of the forest, digging a long furrow through the foliage with its engines before burying itself partially, with the rest of its bulk concealed from the town by the forest trees. Dark Lance looked intently at the map for a few seconds, before finally making his decision.

"Burnout, you go to the town, and make sure that the Decepticons are not already there. Bunker, start repairing the main ship functions. Skybreaker, you and I will head for the Decepticons' ship and try to find out if they are still functional. No one is to engage. If something happens, radio the others immediately. We don't know enough about this planet yet to get involved with the locals, so try to keep low profiles until we do."

The others nodded, and started on their assigned tasks. Bunker went further into the ship to get his tools, while the others walked outside to leave. The first aspect of this new world that they noticed was the lower gravity. They had been experiencing it for some time, but they had been accustomed to moving through their ship in zero-g, so it had not occurred to them how different this planet's gravity was from other planets they had visited until they were outside. The second thing they noticed was that the atmosphere wasn't just thinner, it was also much denser. This possibility had crossed Dark Lance's mind when looking at the holograms of their new forms, but he hadn't thought it would be to such an extent.

Having completed their initial observations about this new environment, Dark Lance and Skybreaker spread their new wings, and took off, acclimating themselves for a few seconds to this latest method of flying. Even though their wings looked comically small in comparison to the rest of their bodies, the two Autobots were easily capable of keeping themselves aloft in the low gravity and dense atmosphere. Now sure that they wouldn't need immediate medical attention, Burnout turned towards where the town on the map was, and headed off, the door closing behind her. Dark Lance and Skybreaker, also satisfied that they could now control their latest forms properly, steered north to where the Decepticons' ship had crashed.

When Burnout got to the town, she was very surprised at the inhabitants. It looked like they were all one of the forms she, Bunker, or Skybreaker had taken. She found it odd that they were all so similar in form, but she had seen much stranger things in her travels. She also wondered how they could build such intricate structures as the buildings she was currently passing without any fingers or other manipulators to hold the tools or carry the materials. The only thing that truly bothered her, however, was the fact that she didn't see any of them with both wings and a horn, like the form Dark Lance had taken. She wondered if it was just chance, or if that particular form was rare or unusual.

Meanwhile, Dark Lance and Skybreaker were hidden in some foliage a short distance from the Decepticon ship. When they had gotten close, they had been able to hear voices and movement inside, indicating that their foes had, in fact, survived the crash and were still fully functional. So the two had decided to wait in hiding until they had seen their enemies' latest forms, so that they would not accidentally, and incorrectly, assume that a random animal was not a robot in disguise.

Their patience was eventually rewarded, as another, red-colored version of the creature Dark Lance had become walked out, followed by a dragon, a lion with bat wings and a scorpion tail, and a cross between a lion and an eagle with its head feathers swept backwards. Instantly, the two hidden robots knew which of their enemies was which. Bloodwing, the leader, had chosen the same form as Dark Lance. Small wonder, since the two were so similar in their other alt-modes. The dragon was Fireburst, the second-in-command of their team, and their heavy weapons expert. The bat-winged lion was Crosswire, the group's medic, if you can call him that. Dark Lance and Skybreaker had seen firsthand what that mad monstrosity was capable of, and it had been one of the worst experiences of their lives. The last was Sharpedge, who lived up to her name in every way possible. From her combat style to her way of speaking, she was one of the meanest Decepticons to ever exist.

The two hidden Autobots watched in silence as the group in front of them checked several places outside the ship, set down some small discs around the area, and then went back inside the ship, which disappeared a few seconds later, shrouded by a cloaking field. Dark Lance got up, then motioned for Skybreaker to follow. Once he was sure they were a safe distance away, he took to the air, the other following close behind.

Burnout's mission had been much less eventful. After setting down a pair of infrared tripwire alarms connected to their ship's alarm system, she went back to the town's library, and began studying the history of the world she was now on after telling an overly friendly purple unicorn she couldn't chat due to urgent business. She also discovered that the unicorns were able to use magic, explaining how they could build so much, while thinking it was a good thing Dark Lance had sent her instead of Bunker. After she had gone through most of the library, she decided it was time to go home. She managed to get out without being stopped again by the librarian, and started heading back towards the Star Runner.

During his comrades' absence, Bunker used the peace and quiet to focus utterly on the task at hand. He first repaired the Energon shields, allowing him to return to his normal form and get the rest of the job done faster than he would have otherwise. Except for one interruption from Burnout to sync up her alarms to the ship, the time passed by quickly and quietly. He may be willing to fight against Unicron himself one-on-one for any of them, but he enjoyed the quiet, peaceful moments. They calmed him, and he was able to do a lot more when he wasn't being interrupted constantly by his teammates. By the time the others got back, he had almost all systems except the engines up and running.

"Nice work, Bunker," Dark Lance complimented as he walked in with Skybreaker, both of them transforming into their robot modes. He was now able to see that Bunker's arms were his rear legs in beast mode, with the tail becoming his signature pair of flowing capes. The head of his beast mode now faced the ceiling, with its horn flat against Bunker's back. Skybreaker's beast mode had him laying backwards, with his main shoulder-thrusters becoming the head, his arms forming the back, and his secondary hoverpack turning into his front legs. Dark Lance was always amazed at how no matter what alt-mode one of them took, the transformations they used were always very similar to previous modes. Even his new beast mode was reminiscent of his usual jet alt-mode. Burnout soon appeared, showing that her old gauntlet had become the majority of her beast mode's head, while her other hand joined it to form the bottom portion of the mouth. Her whole upper body then twisted to put everything in alignment, including the two front legs which now hung off the back of her shoulder blades, looking like they wanted to mimic Skybreaker's backpack.

The four of them then sat in the newly-repaired chairs surrounding the hologram table. Each told the others what they had accomplished over the course of the day, until everyone knew everything that had transpired up to that point, including the fact that they were not horses, but ponies, as well as various other terminology and historical information Burnout had picked up during her studies. Then the other three looked expectantly at their leader, waiting for his verdict on what their priorities would be while they were here. He was silent for almost a minute, mulling over what their course of action should be. Should they go on the offensive, and try to take out the Decepticons before they could do anything to prepare? No, that wouldn't work. The 'cons were always ready for battle, and his team was still tired as well. Try to repair the ship and leave? That was an even worse idea. Even if Bloodwing didn't attack them during repairs or takeoff and let them leave, the natural inhabitants of this world would be unprotected, and that was unacceptable. What about the protoforms? Barring a meteor shower of large proportions, they would be safe in orbit. Start mining for Energon right away? No, the locals might have evolved to need the crystals to survive. He had to make sure they wouldn't suffer without it first. Which meant only one option remained: they would have to go out and reveal themselves to this world. Soon. If they didn't, Bloodwing and his team might gain the upper hand by tricking the population into thinking the Autobots were the evil ones, which had already happened once, and he didn't want it happening again. He was about to tell the others his decision when an alarm went off. Something was walking around outside, possibly a Decepticon. The hologram table hummed to life, showing them a picture of three small, probably younger members of the beings that inhabited the area: a regular pony, with a bow the size of her own head holding her mane back; a unicorn with a curly, two-toned mane; and a pegasus riding a scooter. The three young creatures were staring, mouths open, straight at the ship. Dark Lance looked at Bunker.

"You haven't gotten around to fixing the cloak field yet, have you?" He said, already knowing the answer.

"I had just started on it when you got back." Bunker replied grimly.


	3. Chapter 3: Crusaders and Explosives

Chapter three: Crusaders and Explosives

After a moment, Dark Lance decided to go outside and talk to the unexpected visitors. He transformed into his beast mode so as not to scare them, his team doing the same in case the three younglings came in before Lance had a chance to warn them. He opened the door, to find three large heads with eyes that took up almost the entire area of their faces looking up at him eagerly. Somewhat startled at the fact that they did not seem at all worried about the idea that they were standing next to an alien spaceship, he paused for about a quarter of a second. Which was more than enough time for them to start asking questions.

"Whoareyou?Wheredidyoucomefrom?Areyoutheonlyoneher e?Howcomeyoulookliketheprincesses?Canyoudoanycoolt ricks?What'sthisshipmadeof?Howcomeyouaren'tansweri ng?What'syourhomelike?Canwecomein?"

The questions came faster than the ammunition out of a machine gun. He waited for them to calm down a bit before answering, his memory banks having served him well by remembering each question in the order they were asked, allowing him to answer in the same order if he wanted. Which he didn't because he knew he wouldn't have their attention for that long, so he had to get to the important parts first.

"I am commander Dark Lance, of the Autobot Deep Space Exploration Team," he said with an authoritative and important-sounding voice. He knew how to handle kids like this. It was all in the presentation. "I have come from the planet Cybertron to find new energy sources and a new home for my race. My team and I crashed here after being attacked, and we are now stuck here for some time, since our ship cannot take off in its present condition."

The three faces (which was all he could see of them at the moment) looked at him with wide eyes for a moment before saying "Cool" simultaneously in awed voices. They then looked past him, and the orange, purple-maned pegasus that had been on the scooter asked "So, can we come in?"

He thought for a second. He knew that he and his team needed to be on good terms with the locals if they were ever going to get anything done while they were here, but he didn't want to put these three in danger if the Decepticons decided to attack. He looked at the setting sun, and decided that the Decepticons weren't going to do anything before morning at the earliest. "Alright," he finally answered, the three faces looking like they had just been given the greatest gift of their entire lives. "Just let me-" Before he could finish, all three of the young ponies had shot past him, and were inside the control room, looking around. ^Uh-oh,^ he thought.

Sure enough, he followed them in to a scene of chaos. Despite his team's best efforts, they had already managed to root through several open panels, press numerous buttons on at least five different consoles, and turn the hologram table into a holographic game of dress-up. Before they could do any real damage, however, Bunker, Burnout, and Skybreaker finally caught one each with their beast mode teeth and were holding them up off the floor, out of reach of everything else. Dark Lance walked over and explained the rules of the ship to the new guests.

"First of all, you can't run around like that inside. There are a lot of loose cables, open panels, and sharp edges in here you could hurt yourself on. Second, this stuff is very delicate equipment, and must be taken care of properly in order to function. That means no standing on things and pressing random buttons, trying to play dress-up. Thirdly, and this is the most important, don't touch something if you don't know what it is. You can ask, and we will tell you, but don't touch. If you can't do as you're told, you aren't allowed in, alright?" he finally finished, getting a defeated "Okay..." from the three small fillies. He nodded to his three comrades, who then gently set the foals down on the floor.

"So, what are your names?" the orange one asked, obviously excited to meet anyone she didn't already know, and eager to get to know them. The other two also turned around, looking at the ones who had caught them, which is when Dark Lance noticed two things: first, his team had somehow managed to unintentionally catch the filly of the same type they were disguised as. He wasn't sure if it was a coincidence, or if Primus was trying to send him some kind of message, but that wasn't important right now. What was important was that each of the fillies had saddlebags filled with gems. Or at least, they looked like gems. He quickly realized, however, that the "gems" were actually Energon crystals, and they were glowing. A lot. And getting brighter.

"The bags!" he yelled, knowing his team would notice it too. They looked at the bags, saw what was about to happen, and immediately snatched one each off the fillies, before running to the door and throwing them out, the confused ponies staring dumbly at them. Once all three sets of saddlebags were outside, Bunker smacked the door control, closing it just before there was a series of loud bangs, and the shockwaves from the explosions rippled through the metal of the ship, making it hum and groan.

The fillies looked at each other, then at the four ponies in front of them, then back to each other, confused as to why the gemstones they had spent the last few hours collecting just decided to explode. Dark Lance came over to them, wondering why they had had so much Energon to begin with. Did they use it as an energy source? Food? Currency? But before he could open his mouth, the earth pony with the bow asked sadly, "Does this mean we ain't allowed in anymore?" her accent caught him slightly off-guard, but he reacted before they could start asking him more questions.

Knowing full well that most creatures didn't know Energon was explosive until one of his team showed them, he shook his head, to which the fillies looked very relieved. Now it was his turn to ask a couple questions.

"Before we talk about that, though, I don't think I've heard any of your names yet."

The unicorn gasped with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, we should know better. We were just really excited, that's all. Anyway, my name is Sweetie Belle." Her tone and inflection told Dark Lance that she was raised, at least, by a higher-class parent, and that she was more accustomed to being scolded on etiquette.

The pegasus spoke up next. "I'm Scootaloo, the second-coolest pony in Equestria!" she said enthusiastically. Equestria, huh? Probably the country they were in. Also, she said "second-coolest", which meant that there is someone around here who is extremely good at what they do. Looking at Scootaloo, he guessed that that "something" had to do with pleasing the crowd. What the crowd was there to see, though, he had yet to find out.

The yellow filly with the red mane went last. "And ah'm Apple Bloom!" She said with a smile, her accent coming through again. She looked like she spent a lot of time on a farm, maybe even lived on one. But he wasn't sure just yet, so he withheld any comments about it.

"And we're..." the three ponies said together while striking a pose, "THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" they exclaimed proudly, their mouths stretched into wide grins. His team then moved forward to introduce themselves as well.

"My name is Bunker. I am this team's scientist and helmsman."

"I'm Burnout, the medic. Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Skybreaker. I do recon stuff."

After introductions were finished, and with the names of the three fillies safely in his processor, Dark Lance then asked about the obvious subject. "So why did you have all those Energon crystals, anyway?" he asked.

"What's En-er-jon?" Scootaloo asked, confused.

^Not unexpected, but it was worth a shot,^ Dark Lance mused.

"Energon is what those crystals you had were made of," he explained, knowing what the next sentence would be.

"But I've never seen gems do anything like that before," Sweetie Belle said, intrigued by the explosive power that she had just witnessed.

"Most races that live around Energon don't realize it can explode like that until we show them. I would guess that the crystals you had were set off by the various consoles you went through, slowly setting off a chain reaction in them that caused them to become unstable." He had explained this many times before.

Satisfied with his explanation, Apple Bloom was the next to speak.

"So how do you know what it does?" she asked him. Again, memories of a dozen other worlds and a dozen other beings asking him the same question flashed through his main processor. He looked at her for a moment, knowing where this conversation would go, and wondering what the reactions of the three fillies in front of him would be when he showed them his natural form.

"I know what it does because I use it as sustenance," he replied calmly.

"Wait, what? Why would you eat it?" Sweetie Belle asked, confused.

"I don't eat it like that. First it has to be refined into a more stable compound. Then I can use it as fuel." he explained patiently.

The three fillies thought for a moment before Apple Bloom spoke up. "But ah thought only dragons were able to eat gemstones?" she asked, "How come you ponies are able to eat 'em, too?"

"Because my team and I aren't actually ponies," he said, bracing himself for the worst. The three in front of him looked more confused than anything else.

"But you look just like ponies," Scootaloo said, before Sweetie Belle gasped.

"You're not Changelings, are you?" she asked, fear creeping into her voice. The other two suddenly looked worried as well.

"I don't know what a 'Changeling' from this planet looks like, but I don't think so, no." he replied, seeing relief wash over the fillies' faces. He looked out the window, suddenly realizing it was already dusk, and that his guests needed to get home soon. "It looks like we'll have to finish this conversation another time, though. It's getting dark. Time to get you back home." The crusaders let out a collective "Awwww..." before starting towards the door, Dark Lance close behind.


	4. Chapter 4: Meet the Family

Chapter four: Meet the Family

He followed them all the way to the edge of the woods, not wanting to leave them to fend for themselves if the Decepticons, or one of the dangerous-looking animals they had disguised themselves as, decided they wanted to do some late-night hunting. When they approached the edge of the forest, Dark Lance could hear worried voices in the distance. It soon became apparent that the voices were calling Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. When they finally cleared the last of the trees, Dark Lance could see six ponies of various colors hurriedly looking around and listening for sounds of answer, when their ears spun around, followed quickly by the rest of their heads as he and the Cutie Mark Crusaders revealed themselves from the foliage. Two of them, a white unicorn with purple mane and tail and an orange-colored earth pony with a cowgirl hat, raced over in front of the others. The orange one slowed down as she saw that the fillies were unharmed, and with an escort, but the unicorn didn't seem to notice, and if she did, she certainly didn't care.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle, thank goodness you're safe," she said, giving the two-toned unicorn a hug. "Where have you been? You were supposed to be back over an hour ago!" She looked at the filly, tears of relief welling up in her eyes.

"It's alright, Rarity, we were just meeting some new friends," she explained to the pony Dark Lance assumed was her sister.

"So we can see," said another, purple, unicorn as the rest caught up. "Thanks for bringing them back, we were really worried."

"I wasn't," argued a cyan pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. "After all, Scootaloo was with them, and if she plans on being as awesome as me one day, then she shouldn't have any problem with anything in that forest." The purple unicorn shot her a glare, before turning back to Dark Lance with a smile.

"Anyway, let us introduce ourselves. I'm Twilight Sparkle," she said, puffing her chest out slightly with pride. Dark Lance could tell she was a student, but also that she was very intelligent, from the way she enunciated her words carefully, but quickly. "I'm the personal student of Princess Celestia, so if you want to know anything, I'm sure I can help you." She smiled widely.

^Personal student of royalty? She must be ridiculously skilled in order to have that kind of status. She probably knows more about this world than the rest of them put together, so I should keep her in mind if anything comes up.^ he thought to himself, already mentally practicing how he should get in contact with her.

"My name is Rarity," the first unicorn said, "and let me thank you right now for bringing back my sister. I know she can be a hoof-full, but she's really a good girl." Dark Lance cocked his head slightly in surprise as she said "hoof-full", but it made sense to him that they would use the term "hoof" instead of "hand", since they didn't have hands. He also noticed the careful, deliberate way she talked, indicating that she put a lot of effort into how others saw her. Her expertly groomed mane and tail cemented this idea quite firmly into his memory banks.

^She probably has a job in the textile industry here. That could be useful.^

The orange pony was the next to approach him. "Ah'm Applejack, Apple Bloom's big sister," she said with the same accent as the filly. "Our family owns Sweet Apple Acres, the farm on the edge of town," she explained, confirming his suspicion that Apple Bloom lived on a farm.

^If we need money for something, we may be able to get jobs there. I'll have to find out about the local currency, though.^

Suddenly, a pink pony with a dark pink, fluffy mane and tail popped up in front of him. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" she nearly shouted at him, smiling happily. Dark Lance knew right away that she was going to be like this every time he saw her. "What's your name?"

"Dark Lance," he said simply.

^Oh, dear. She's one of those types that doesn't ever stop talking, isn't she? Bunker is going to have some serious issues keeping his cool around her.^

"Cool name," the cyan pegasus from earlier replied, hovering a few inches above his head, "but not as cool as mine: Rainbow Dash!" she said, with a bit more pride than was necessary, he thought. He also noticed Scootaloo looking at her with wide eyes and a big smile, realizing that Rainbow Dash was probably the pony she had been thinking of when she called herself "second-coolest". He decided not to mention it, though, as he suddenly realized something.

"Wasn't there one more of you?" he asked, sure that there had been six previously. The others looked around for a moment, and Twilight took a step to her left, revealing a scared, pale yellow pegasus with a long, pink mane and tail. She eeped in fright, curling herself up tighter to try and hide behind her mane. "Are you alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned that he had done something to frighten her.

"B-B-Behind you!" she stuttered. Dark Lance spun around, expecting at least one of the forms the Decepticons had taken to be directly behind him, ready to pounce. Instead, he saw nothing but forest. He then became aware of a light pressure on his left front leg, and looked down to see a snake latched on to him with its teeth. He lifted his leg up to inspect the reptile and turned around.

"Is this what had you so worked up?" he said, hoping it was.

"Omigoodness!" the pegasus said, running up to him. "Are you okay? Let me see." She then grabbed the snake with her hooves, and pulled it off of his leg, tossing it into the brush before looking at where it had been attached to him. He wondered for a moment how she had done that, since hooves weren't particularly dexterous. The fact that she was suddenly not scared of the snake also baffled him, since she had just been using one of her friends to hide from it. She suddenly hummed in thought. "That's odd, I could have sworn it bit into you. But I can't find any wound marks." She sounded very confused.

"And this is Fluttershy," Twilight said, introducing her distracted friend for her. Fluttershy blushed hard, realizing what she had just done.

"I'm so sorry mister Lance, I just got so worked up when I saw that snake, I forgot what we were doing." She looked like she wanted to hide behind her friends again, as she took a step back.

"It's alright," he smiled at her, not wanting to worry her further.

"Hold on a second..." Rainbow Dash interrupted, moving to Dark Lance's side. "How come you don't have a cutie mark?"

"A what?" he asked, worry beginning to form in his processor as he realized that there was apparently a major flaw in his disguise.

"A cutie mark? You know, the thing that every foal gets by the time they grow up, symbolizing their special talent?" He then noticed the images on the back legs of each of the six adults. Teletraan six had not shown him anything like that when he saw the holograms, and Burnout had apparently not come across the term during her time in town. He shook his head, painfully aware of his mistake. Something that important to the culture would definitely cause problems with his disguise.

"How can a pony not have a cutie mark?" Twilight asked, looking like she was deep in thought.

Fortunately, he didn't have to answer, because Apple Bloom did it for him.

"He told us he wasn't actually a pony, he just looks like one."

The others looked to him in shock. "You aren't a Changeling, are you?" Rainbow Dash asked suspiciously. ^That's the second time today,^ Dark Lance thought. ^What are these 'Changelings' they keep talking about?^ He also became aware that it was getting hard to see, due to the sun having set, so he decided to end the conversation quickly.

"I do not believe that these Changelings are anything like me, but its dark out, and I need to get back to my team. How about we continue this tomorrow morning? I believe you have a library of some sort?" The crusaders let out a disappointed "Awww..." before the others could respond.

"Alright," Twilight said, after thinking for a moment. "We'll meet at the library tomorrow morning, and we can introduce ourselves properly. Is everypony alright with that?" She looked around, and got nods of agreement from her friends. "Alright then, see you tomorrow!" She said excitedly. Dark Lance waved goodbye, then turned around to head back into the forest. There was a gasp behind him, and Rarity ran to stop his path.

"You aren't actually thinking of going in there now, are you?" she asked incredulously.

"Um, yes?" he answered, not understanding why this was such a big deal. It seemed like a regular old forest to him.

"But there's all kinds of animals in there that could eat you right up!" she replied, a look of concern covering her face.

He looked at the leg which had had the snake attached to it not that long ago. He didn't feel any pain, and it looked just fine. Unsurprising, considering he was made of metal. "I think I'll be alright, but thanks for the concern." he said, stepping around her.

"Are ya sure ya'll will be alright?" Applejack questioned.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," he said, smiling. "I don't think I'll have any problem getting back." He waved one last time before disappearing into the trees.


End file.
